How a UAE ministry helped a 12-year-old hear after two years

Dubai - A cochlear implant is the treatment of choice in such cases.

A 12-year-old Indian girl, who suffered from hearing loss for a period of two years due to a severe viral infection that damaged the cochlear nerve, has been fit with a cochlear implant at Al Baraha Hospital recently.
The surgery was done as part of the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) initiatives of the Year of Giving and was performed by the ENT team at Al Baraha Hospital led by Dr Ahmad Al Emadi, senior consultant and head of the ENT department.
The operation included an implantation of a cochlea, one of the latest technologies in terms of its small size, clarity and sound quality.
Dr Al Emadi said that total or partial hearing loss of the sensory nervous system in children who do not benefit from usual hearing aids leads to significant difficulties later in their lives such as retardation and delay of mental and educational development, in addition to psychological and social problems, suffered by the child and his/her family.
"A cochlear implant is the treatment of choice in such cases, leading to a significant positive change in the patient's life, but many people refrain from such procedures because they are very costly," he said.
Abdul Razzaq Amiri, director of Al Baraha Hospital, said that the initiative conducted by the ministry in the year of giving.
The ENT department at Al Baraha Hospital is considered as a referral centre at the level of the ministry. The department has successfully performed highly specialised and complex operations, and had previously performed the first implantation of the smallest hearing aid in the skull bone behind the ear in the Middle East.
Estimates from the US and Europe show that if left untreated, hearing loss may cost a person $383,000 per year on special schooling and other costs. Officials said that figures were comparable to the UAE.
The World Health Organisation that approximately three per cent of people have disabling hearing loss problems in the region.
Last year, in the UAE, according to MED-EL's Medical Electronics survey 'Responsiveness to hearing loss'; it was estimated that four per cent of the UAE's community is affected by hearing loss.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com  

• Dubai